Disney World Water Parks: A Cheapskate Princess Guide

Disney World is a hot and busy place in the summer, and one of the best ways to cool off in Orlando is to head to a water park. There are two amazing water parks on Disney property. If you are a Disney pro who visits yearly, or planning your first trip, our Travel Experts have the low down on Water Park Fun & More options, changes and pricing to get you ready to splash into summer!

Head to tropical-themed Typhoon Lagoon water park to

Board a treasure raft and hit the high seas at Miss Adventure Falls, the longest ride in the history of Disney Water Parks!

Zoom down one of three enclosed slides in Humunga Kowabunga.

Race 30 miles an hour down one of the three storm slides, winding around until you land at the refreshing pool at the base of the Jib Jammer, Stern Burner, or Rudder Buster.

Take a whitewater adventure as you slip and slide away with your inner tube on Keelhaul Falls.

Take a refreshing and exciting plunge on Mayday Falls, the longest waterslide in Typhoon Lagoon.

Defy gravity on Crush’N’Gusher, an exciting water slide roller coaster experience you have to see to believe!

Sunbathe on the sandy beach.

Glide down the lazy river on a relaxing raft ride.

Smaller visitors will have a blast at Ketchakiddee Creek.

Enjoy the largest wave pool in the world with a six-foot wave and bobbing waves.

Head to melted ski resort Blizzard Beach water park to

Zip down one of the world’s tallest and fastest water slides, Mount Gushmore.

Gather the whole family to ride Teamboat Springs. With twelve hundred feet of whitewater and rushing waterfalls, Teamboat Springs is one of the longest raft rides in the country!

Shoot the tube and race down the slopes at 25 miles per hour on your own inner tube, on Downhill Double Dipper.

Race in one of the eight lanes of Toboggan Racers.

Try Summit Plummet, the world’s tallest and fastest free body slide!

Float down a tranquil river, Cross Country Creek.

Sunbathe on the white-sand beach.

Enjoy a wave pool with smaller waves, and a unique kids area for the littler ones.

How much money will you need to do some serious Disney swimming? We want to make sure you have the most up to date information if you are planning a trip to one of Disney’s Water Parks, so we’ve explained that with three simple options.

Pricing Option #1

Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon Ticket Prices

You can purchase tickets to the water parks without having any other tickets. These prices are independent of any of Disney’s other theme parks tickets, and these prices DO include tax.

Annual Passes

From a Cheapskating perspective, purchasing a water parks annual pass makes sense if you will be visiting Orlando to go to the water parks more than twice without purchasing tickets where the water park is included. Visiting 10 times as an adult can put your per visit cost down to around $12.

Individual Tickets

One-Day Water Park Hopper Admission (use any time for one calendar year): 2017 $56.00 Child (3-9); $62.00 Adult before tax

Guests using a one day water park ticket can visit both Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon on the same day, provided they are open, while this perk will not apply to the Option #2 (Water Park Fun & More Option.)

From a Cheapskating perspective, purchasing independent tickets makes financial sense when you are not purchasing many days of Disney park tickets, or when you are purchasing theme park tickets to other Orlando theme parks like Universal or Sea World.

Option #2 below may save you more money, and might be more financially beneficial if you plan to purchase multi-day Disney park tickets.

Blizzard Beach Water Park

Pricing Option #2

Ever heard of the Water Park Fun & More Option? That is no longer being sold. Now you can purchase the Park Hopper Plus Option, which includes same-day admission to all four theme parks on each day of your ticket, plus a certain number of visits to a water park or other Walt Disney World fun. If you want to visit a Disney water park, they recommend you add the Park Hopper Plus Option to your ticket.

The Park Hopper Plus Option provides a certain number of admissions to the water parks—based on the number of days in your ticket or package.

A four-day ticket allows four visits, and a five-day ticket allows five visits. (The only exception to this is that a one day ticket allows two visits. For each visit you can choose from the following:

Blizzard Beach Water Park

Typhoon Lagoon Water Park

ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex

Oak Trail Golf Course (Greens Fees Apply)

Fantasia Gardens Miniature Golf Course

Summerland Gardens Miniature Golf Course

The additional cost of upgrading to Park Hopper Plus Option is a rate of $15 (plus tax) per person (for both Adult and Children aged 3 and over.)

You can see by this Google map image, the main focus of this water park is the wave pool, and it certainly does not disappoint.

Typhoon Lagoon offers a children’s section called Ketchakiddee Creek. This area has which has waterfalls, small slides, spraying fountains, crawl tubes, a leaky tugboat and a small-scale rapids ride. With ten different activity areas, this is a must-do for children under 48 inches tall.

You’ll notice on the map above that the park’s main feature is the wave pool, which as we mentioned is the largest wave pool in the world. It features alternating 90 minute surf with six-foot high waves with 30 minutes of bobbing waves. Feeling adventurous? You can even sign up for surfing lessons at an additional cost.

Blizzard Beach:

Tike’s Peak is definitely aimed at younger children, with a snow-castle fountain, pop-up water jets, and small slides in a shallow water area for children less than 48 inches tall.

Ski Patrol Training Camp is for older children not ready for the larger teen/adult slides. This area features both curvy and inner-tube slides and a floating iceberg course. There is zip line where children shorter than 60 inches tall can hang onto a bar as they zip down and drop off into a pool. Because the water in this area is about eight feet deep, make sure your children can swim or wear a life jacket.

Many of our readers have mentioned they feel that Blizzard Beach has more offerings for the younger crowd. The wave pool, Melt Away Bay, is a moderate-sized pool with bobbing waves, which could also be more suited for younger children who may be scared by the huge wave at Typhoon Lagoon. The slides at Blizzard Beach are generally regarded as more for older kids and adults than the slides at Typhoon lagoon, so there is something for every age group here, with an emphasis on a great place for younger children.

We always recommend taking a one or two-day “break” in-between regular park days, especially in the summer, when the Florida sun and heat seem to suck the life right out of you and the kids. Once you’ve been to a Disney water park, your kids will mention it every time they set foot in a back yard pool.

Amanda Major is the creator of cheapskateprincess.com. She remembers her first visit to Magic Kingdom like it was yesterday, because she had a ham sandwich tucked in her shorts pocket. The whole family snuck in their lunch; you can’t make that kinda stuff up. 40 years worth of trips to Orlando later, she is still trying to save money on vacations.

Amanda is a Disney Vacation Club Member and Annual Pass holder. Her amazing husband, band director Carl Major, plus three teen children and two dogs keep her busy. Amanda teaches Leadership to high school seniors in the almost-coastal town of Foley, Alabama. Read about her cheapskating local vacations with this link. When she’s not writing, she’s reading, walking somewhere, or paddling a kayak. Life is indeed a blast.